Improvement in excavators



- WMM www? J. HoDGBs. .EXCAVATOIL PATENTED MAY 2, 1865.

` and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and" exact description thereof,

'of my invention taken in the lille. a: Fig. 2 5

in length by sixteen feet in width and ve feet th e'machinery hereinafter described.

.placedfatthe forward end? of the vessel A,

' movement' of foar. inc

yin aworking day o ftwelve hours. Where .back ofthe screws onto thedeckof the vessel.`

l'UNITED STATESv PATENT 1`OFFICE.

JAMES' hondas, or .PENNY HILL, BAGsnotr,l ENGLAND'.

'.IMPBVEMENT IN- EXCAVATons..`

specmeatiouarmiug para of Letters reattive. 217,965. ti'i'i'ylss, 1365.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JAMES HoDGEs, of PennyHill, Bagshot, Surrey, England, have invented a new and Improved Machine for M an ufacturin g Fuel from Peat-E Xcavatin g Ga, nails and forSimilar or Analogous Purposes;

at the end of the vessel, arranged' in such a manner that it may be adjusted higheror which will en ablethose skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section projecting ends b, having cutters or cutting the. screws outward tothe ends Z1. (See-Fig. 3.) The cutters c c may be made separate admit of their ready removal for sharpening -a'nd other purposes, and said cutters may be Fig. 2,'a plan" or top view of the same; Fig.

attached to hinged ilaps orarranged in any 3, a front view of the screw excavators pertaining to the saine.

VSimilar. letters of reference indicate corre monding parte L y 4..

' rlhis invention relates to a new and imV proved machine for excavating, and, at-the same time, manufacturing vpeat for fuel, V:as hereinafter fully shown and' described.

A represents thehull of a vessel 'on which the machinery is placed. 'This vessel may be either a barge or ilat-bottom scow, of wood or iron, and, for ordinary use, about ninety feet lan'ges e, to serve as Scrapers, thelatterfrubf or other material excavated tothe opening in the rear. The peat orI other material excavatedfis discharged upon an inclined endless provided with a vertical revolving-shaft,-G in depth, strongly put together, and carrying a steamengine ot' sutticient capacity to drive `cilitat-in'g the movement of Vthe peat intothe Y hopper. i B B.4 represent two screw-excavators, which vHis a feed'rfor filling the pockets of the may be of iron, about eleven feet in diameter,

and rotated by two shafts, 0.0, to which they are attached. rlhese screws are so-arrange'd 'luto the pocket-s of the -squeezer I. This squeezerl consists of a large skeleton cylinder, of iron, about eight feet in diameter and three feet face, upon the circumference of which are formed perforated pockets i.' These l pockets. are about three feet in length by six- 'es per'nfimte, ora total movement oftwo hundred `and forty feetthe peat' is ofliconsiderable depth one screw may be usedjin place of two in 'whichy case it' will befp'lacedinthecenter line of the vessel and provided with the. same arrangement, as before described. l i, D'representshields of wrought-iron inclsing the screws an( 4conning the peat when excavated until itisjd'elivered by the scraper forated in order t-o admit of the water readily may be covered with strong, coarse canvas or 4other suitable material to prevent the eat -er'sjJ.' V f 1- I" wouldremark that the depth of the pockets t'l may be varied by having their bottoms The shields D D are attached to af frame,"

lower to regulate the depth of the cut of the screws, as may be desired. The shafts i areprovided with universal joints `a, to'ad VInit of thisadjustment of .the screws.' 'The outerI parts of the screws B B are formed with edges c'c, which yextend from the hubs dof l from the screws and bolted to them, so as to w other suitable way to'admit of them being adt justed with a greater or less'rake or pitch to v regulatethe cut, as may be desired. The in- .ner parts ofthe screws areprovided with-v bing aga-inst the shieldsand bringing the peat 'apron, E, which carries it to a hopper, F. (See, more particularly, Fig'. '1.) This hopperF is to which 'are attached stirrefsf, the latter fa-7 squeezenand is a cylinder, of iron or. othery material, within which rotates a shaft, g, carrying arms h, so arranged as to force the peat teen inches in width and of a depth varyipg from five toeight inches. The sides of these pockets, as well as the bottoms, may be per- .passing out fromthem, and the perforations passing -through vunder the pressure' of roll- A adjustable, so that they may be moved farits ilanges said rollers extending ther in or out from the center of the wheel.

There are seven rollers, J, of iron placed in compressed masses of peat are broken u p, the ber cut into short lengths and entirely deposition relatively with the face of the eyliustroyed, and the whole reduced into a homoder, as shown clearly over about one-third of its circumference and covered by a band, K.

I do not conlne myself to the use of the rollers J', for other means may be used and; this the same end obtainedfor instance, a strong casti-ron plate accurately'tted and planed to the shape of the proper curve andu'egulated or adjusted by set-screws may be employed. The peat is discharged from the squeezer upon au inclined endless apron or elevator, L, which v. conveys it to the pulping-machine M.

This machine is in the form of au inverted frustum of a cone, with a cylim'lricalbottom or base six feetin diameter at topand three feetu at bottom, with a total height of seven feet. Within this cone are placed perforated diaphragms j, any proper number being` used, and so arranged as to be removable when desired. A vertical shaft, 7c, carryingknives, cutters, or rubbers, l, passes through the center ot' the diaphragms, and when Irevolving I the knives force 'the peat through the perforated diaphragms, and at the saine time cut and crush its liber, thereby reducing it 'to a homogeneous mass of pulp. v After the pulp has been forcedthrough the last or lowest diaphragm, it passes into a cylinder, m, in which it is expressed by spiral arms n and molded into the required shape and density by the forni of the opening o. Itis made to pass through in leaving cylinderm.

vessel, as shown in Fig. 2, and maybe supported and arranged in any proper manner.

l is a propelling or steering wheel arranged at the stern of Ilthe vessel.

The entire operation ofthe machinery is as follows: The vessel being` properly located in yhe hog or peat, the machinery' is putinmotion by the action ot' a steam or other engine. i Any properarrangement of gearing may be employed for communicating motion to the several parts. The revolution of the screws or excavators cutsola continuous slice of g peat four inches in thickness, which is deposited upon the elevator or carrier E,which con Vveys it to the hopper F, from whence it passes throughA the feeder H into the pockets of the squeezer I in its passage through which some forty per cent. of its weight is expressed in the form of water, and the remainder passes from the pockets by means of the elevator L into the pulping-machine M, in which the The l molded peat is discharged upon an endless t band, o, which' projects from the side of the l l don.

in Fig. l1, and between i, geneous pulp and orced into the molding apthe hand- O conveying which they' are stacked for drying. Up to last stage no manual labor has been exmachinery. The bricks,

when deposited upon the racks are equal in bulk to about sixty about forty per cent. of its weight orl bulk having been squeezed out during the process ot' manufacture. It nowremains exposed to the actionot' the weather until the bricks becomehard, or of nearly the weight and density of coal, which will require abopt a tort- 4night, by which time a considerable further reduction both in bulk and weight will take place simply by evaporation, and the bricks, ll without further preparation or drying, will -be fit for market or conversion into charcoal. A modifica-tion of the preceding marrinery placed on wheels may also be advantageously used in the construction of tunnels or ot' cal nals. i 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters late'nt--f 1. The excavating of peat or other sub l, stances by means ot' rotating screw-excavai tors, one or more, arranged with shield and scraper, or their equivalents, all'placed on or' l connected with a floating vessel or a carriage mounted on wheels, substantially as described. 2. 'lhe squeezer composed of the rotating cylinder provided with pockets and a series of pressure-rollers, or their equivalents, when for the purpose speeitied.

perforated diaphragms and revolving knives, arranged within a suit-able casc,t'o operate substantially as described.

4. The combination ot' the screw-excava tors, endless elevators or carriers, squeezing device, and pulping mechanism, all arranged on or applied to a lioating vessel, or a vehicle mounted on wheels, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

London, licbruary 20, 1865.

` JAMES IIODGICS.

Witnesses:

Guo. J. WARREN, JOHN DEAN,

i No. 17 -G-ruccchurch street, in the city of Loupeuded, the whole having been performed by d per cent. ot' i the mass of peat excavated, water equal to used in connection with the screw-excavators,

3. rlhe pnlpingmachine composed of' 'the 

